Any discussion of the background art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
With the continued growth of information technology such as video-on-demand, mobile data and cloud computing, data traffic is increasing rapidly. This data is stored and routed through networks of datacenters located worldwide. Datacenters include banks of data servers interconnected by switches or cross-connects and routing cables, all contained within a secure, temperature controlled environment. Current datacenter and network architectures often experience difficulty in keeping up with this increase in data demand, leading to information bottlenecks.
Data routing using optical fibers is a primary transmission medium in datacenters due to its higher data rate capabilities, low loss, low power and reduced heat consumption. Switching between optical fibers within an optical network is typically performed by optical cross-connect switches (optical cross connects). However, conventional optical cross-connects used in external optical networks are generally not practical for use internally within datacenters due to their large size and high cost. The size of an optical cross-connect is generally limited by the fill factor of the arrays of switching mirrors and the collimating optics in the switch. Further, the size and cost of cross-connects generally scales up with increasing numbers of input and output fiber ports.
Other techniques are known for providing optical data routing, including using a matrix of mirror arrays in free-space propagation to direct optical beams. However, the optical beams have a large diameter to allow propagation, with a permissible level of loss, across free space. Another switching technique involves using Piezzo-electric beam steering devices. An example of this technique is disclosed in US Patent Application Publication 2008/0253715, entitled “Optical Switch” and assigned to Polaris Limited. These devices achieve low loss but do not have small form factors and hence are difficult to make compact. Waveguide and MEMs hinge mirrors, and “bubble” total internal reflection switches are also available but are yet to deliver practical results.
There is a need for an improved optical cross-connect that is compact in size and suitable for use in environments such as datacenters.